Analysis of The Choice
Emma Lazarus 1849 (New York City) – 1887 (New York City)
I saw in dream the spirits unbegot,
Veiled, floating phantoms, lost in twilight space;
For one the hour had struck, he paused; the place
Rang with an awful Voice:
'Soul, choose thy lot!
Two paths are offered; that, in velvet-flower,
Slopes easily to every earthly prize.
Follow the multitude and bind thine eyes,
Thou and thy sons' sons shall have peace with power.
This narrow track skirts the abysmal verge,
Here shalt thou stumble, totter, weep and bleed,
All men shall hate and hound thee and thy seed,
Thy portion be the wound, the stripe, the scourge.
But in thy hand I place my lamp for light,
Thy blood shall be the witness of my Law,
Choose now for all the ages!'
Then I saw
The unveiled spirit, grown divinely bright,
Choose the grim path. He turned, I knew full well
The pale, great martyr-forehead shadowy-curled,
The glowing eyes that had renounced the world,
Disgraced, despised, immortal Israel.
Scheme | ABBCADEEDFAAFAGHGAIAAJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 110101011 11010111101 111101 1111 11110101010 11001100101 100100111 10111111110 1101100101 1111010101 1111011011 1101010101 1011111111 1111010111 1111010 111 0011010101 1011111111 01110101001 0101110101 0101010100 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 897 |
Words | 161 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 711 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 158 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 13, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 93 Views
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"The Choice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12725/the-choice>.
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